Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure relates to dental implant procedures and, more particularly, to methods and systems for a conducting a guided sinus lift procedure for facilitating implantation of a dental implant.
Description of Related Art
Dental implants rely upon suitable bone structure in relation to the patient's jaw in order to be effective. However, in some instances, a dental implant may be required in a location in the maxilla (i.e., the posterior maxilla or upper jawbone) that may be too close to the lowered floor of the sinus. Lowering of the sinus floor can be caused, for example, by long-term tooth loss without the required treatment, periodontal disease, and/or trauma. In such instances, a sinus augmentation (sinus lift) procedure may be required to raise the floor of the sinus (i.e., an anatomical structure, similar to an air pocket or bubble, located above the maxilla), which could otherwise interfere with placement of a dental implant, and also to avoid perforating sinus membrane during the dental implant procedure. Once the sinus membrane/floor of the sinus is lifted or raised, the recess remaining in the maxilla, may be filled with a suitable material so as to retain the sinus floor in the lofted position, while providing additional bone or bone-like structure in which to implant the dental implant.
In connection with such a sinus augmentation procedure, a window or portal must first be incised from the maxilla so as to allow access to the sinus membrane to perform the lift procedure. With computerized tomography (CT) and other imaging scans becoming more common, the practitioner may be able to graphically visualize the jawbone structure, without or before the invasive incision. However, even though the lowered sinus condition may have first been detected and diagnosed through such various non-invasive imaging techniques as CT, the surgeon must often use a “best estimate” or “best guess” when incising the maxilla to form the window/portal. As such, there may be a risk that the surgeon could perforate the sinus membrane when performing the incision of the maxilla and/or could inadvertently damage other portions of the maxilla.
Thus, there exists a need for a method and system for providing an improved sinus lift procedure that addresses the noted shortcomings of current procedures, and facilitates, for example, effective pre-surgical planning and guidance during the surgical procedure.